Hackel celebrates Macomb County transformation'

County Executive Mark Hackel delivers his speech to an invitation-only crowd of 1,200 at The Macomb Performing Arts Center at Macomb Community College’s Clinton Township campus. The Macomb Daily/RAY J. SKOWRONEK

An ice sculpture with the motto “Make Macomb Your Home” was a focal point for the afterglow event. The Macomb Daily/RAY J. SKOWRONEK

In his characteristic upbeat fashion, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel on Wednesday used his third State of the County Address to praise Macomb’s resurgence and to energetically promote the county’s selling points in ways that would put many salesmen to shame.

Relying upon several videos displayed on a massive screen, Hackel paced the stage of the Macomb Center of the Performing Arts with a wireless microphone on his lapel, telling the full-house audience of 1,200 people about the county’s gains in higher education, the economy, agriculture and the retail sector.

“Macomb County is experiencing a tremendous transformation, producing an incredible quality of life,” the executive said. “From day one ... we have been driven by a vision, a vision of a better Macomb County and … the reality that there is a continuing sense of pride in this place we call home.”

Hackel lauded Macomb’s role as the center of the defense industry in Michigan and beyond. He saluted the auto industry comeback in the county and he announced that, for the second consecutive year, the Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck produced at Chrysler’s Warren Truck Plant was named by Motor Trend magazine as the “Truck of the Year.”

Advertisement

The executive boasted of the recreational opportunities on Lake St. Clair and the Clinton River created by the “Blue Economy.” And he extolled the return of the Freedom Hill amphitheater as a significant regional concert venue.

In addition, Hackel’s 40-minute speech made a bit of news as he briefly mentioned plans for a new state park on the Lake St. Clair shoreline and a hunting/conservation area in northern Macomb.

At the Taste of Macomb afterglow that featured foods from dozens of county restaurants and food retailers, the former sheriff was rather tight-lipped about these two developments.

“We’re working on (the park) but I’m not going to give up the details,” he said, adding that he is hoping for state Department of Natural Resources assistance.

His advisory council on water issues is working with local communities and environmental groups to study the prospect of county purchases of land that would be strung together to form a state park.

The hunting area project would also be dependent on the county’s ability to secure donations from foundations and businesses that could serve as money that matches any DNR allocations.

“I can’t get specific,” said the Macomb Township Democrat. “We have to figure out where to take this county, with all its water and land resources, and grow these opportunities.”

Among those on hand for the event were top elected officials, business leaders, high-ranking educators and two regional figures – outgoing Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano.

District Judge Denis LeDuc of the Romeo-based 42nd District Court said he was pleased that Hackel’s words and the videos’ scenes celebrated Macomb’s geographic and cultural diversity.

“I’ve told people for years that you can live out (in Bruce Township), you can have 10 acres of land and have horses for your family, and you can still be 20 minutes away from the (General Motors) Tech Center,” said LeDuc, who has held various elective offices in the county since 1977. “And you can have a boat in the summer on Lake St. Clair and enjoy it all.”

Jim Jacobs, president of Macomb Community College, which hosted the event, said that he was gratified that the executive’s speech cited increasing diversity and more regionalism. But he added that Hackel must go beyond promoting the county to addressing issues such as unemployment, falling household incomes and budget deficits suffered by the cities and schools.

“He has to deal with the issues that are holding us back,” said Jacobs, an economist. “The county has made significant progress in many areas but he has got to go further to provide a vision, and he has to go further because that vision has to be articulated.”